


traitor

by chalahandra



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Betrayal, Mild Dissociation, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 14:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11233323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chalahandra/pseuds/chalahandra
Summary: Thom Ranier makes a choice.





	traitor

The arrows catch the carriage horses in the neck, and they go down shrieking. Calliet leaps out of his carriage only to find a shaft in his shoulder. Ranier closes the distance roaring - but Callier did not rise to his position as General by name alone.

Thom Ranier made his name in the melee at Markham. There, victory is measured in seconds. Steel hisses, but Ranier has two hands on his sword, and Callier only one. An over-handed strike sends the Orlesian reeling, and in the heartbeat between, Ranier pulls his sword up and through his unarmored neck.

His men hustle around him - pulling a woman and two children out of the carriage. They look as stunned as he feels. They weren't meant to be here. No witnesses.

There's a heartbeat to choose.

Either option is awful.

Either option means death, for him, and his men.

The Game's reach is far, and for the first time, Ranier doubts the path he's chosen.

The wife killed is a matyr. If she'd stayed in her estate he'd never have to _choose_ \--

He swings, and Moray's head flies from his shoulders. Pierre shrieks like a kettle and drops the child, but Ranier _knows_ exactly how he fights. The shriek cuts out with a gurgle. Ulik goes for the wife, so he slams into his archer, cracking ribs with his knees and his neck with a gauntleted hand.

Thom Ranier made his name in the melee at Markham. Seven men left. Josef loses a head and an arm in exchange for a bruising punch. Stupid, to try and restrain him. Six. Tomas gets hamstrung - should have worn the leg armour, idiot - and Ranier's blade finds the gap under the armpit.

Jacques breaks his ribs with his mace and gets a slash across his face for his trouble. It blinds him long enough for a dagger to sink deep into his neck. Three. But he's slow, now. Wright is crying, hands shaking too much to get an accurate bead with the bow.

He's the only thing standing between the woman and death. Farrow is white under his freckles. Keith stands ready, but his armour is spattered with Moray's blood. Ranier _roars_ , and charges. Wright backs up and trips, hands up to ward off the blow. It doesn't help.

Two.

Farrow carves into the meat of his shoulder, and he can feel the sting of the poison already. It doesn't stop him from ripping open the lad from hips to ribs. And it is a _rip_ , a horrific tear from a blunted blade, and the boy screams high and loud.

One.

Keith blocks the cut with his shield, and opens a wound on his thigh. He throws his full weight into the next strike, grabbing onto the shield and hauling it down. Pommel strike sends Ranier's vision doubling, but he twists and the arm goes limp.

Then it's just the two of them, face to face. Keith drops the sword and goes for his dagger, but Ranier is faster. It slides up under the breastplate, into his stomach, and up, up, up. A faceful of bloody spittle is just penance, he supposes. The tip of his sword pierces up through Keith's gambeson, and what should be a shriek is a whimper.

His corpse drops like a stone as Ranier turns. His hands are empty, but it doesn't help. She's shaking like a leaf, and the children are silent. He is a _monster_.

"Take the horses. Go." He says. The Orlesian words feel like dust in his mouth, and he turns his back to them, fingers already working at the lion's head breastplate. Thom Ranier made his name in the melee at Markham, and in an ambush outside of Val Firmin, he destroyed it.

**Author's Note:**

> A little piece investigating if Blackwall chose to spare Callier's wife and children. Or, Blackwall kills the men he's captained for years and has a really bad time.
> 
> Recommended listening music: [Broken Crown](https://youtu.be/sXzDu071RdQ) by Mumford and Sons.


End file.
